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Friday, February 26, 2010

H. pylori

My patient, age 32: "This is the best I have felt in five years. I feel like a whole organism. Rashes on my body, face-circles under my eyes, they have all cleared. My abdominal pain is all gone. My acid reflux is gone. Total body stiffness and pain are gone--after 5 years. Fatigue is gone: I am so energetic. My body has changed. My middle section has reduced in size. The bloating and swelling is gone. My appetite is better: I am know longer hungry all the time. My taste buds work better. My neighbors have so much energy, now I am like them. Thank you."

"Did you have any side effects from the medicine?"

"For the first two weeks I had nightmares--mild headaches, then everything went away."

One month prior to this visit, a test for H. pylori was positive: the IgM ELISA. Most labs only perform the IgG ELISA. I request the IgA, IgM and IgG antibodies for H. pylori (Helicobacter pylori). Any one could be positive. IgA goes along with mucosal disease and IgM indicates active disease.

This patient has a number of chronic medical problems. The test was ordered because of persistent heartburn (GERD). Her treatment: Nexium 40mg 2x daily, Biaxin 500mg 2x daily and Amoxil one gram 2x daily, for 30 days. She has been off therapy for a week and is continuing to improve. I told her if symptoms return maybe we should retreat.

I leave this vignette for you to interpret.

4 comments:

Natalie said...

This piece makes me think of many of the changes I've made in my diet in the past three that resulted in some tremendous changes in my health. Eliminating all forms of processed foods, commercial meats and gluten did amazing things for me! My knees started BENDING again and I stopped having daily stomach cramps. I encourage everyone, not just those of us currently dealing with health problems, to take a real interest in where your food comes from and how it is prepared.

Unknown said...

Is there a prize? From your brief symptom list,supported by response to treatment, your patient has Lyme.
Infection affecting Cranial nerves and muscles of gut. reducing function of sphincters and cilia.
Sorry to be simplistic, but the labels for my anatomy have gone, another symptom.

searchingforhealth said...

I have had H.pylori twice in the 3.5 years I have had Lyme. It magnifies symptoms horribly. For me there was increased overall nerve pain and pain of all kinds, stomach constantly unsettled and bowels not normal, unexplained weight loss and "allergies" to food - all gone after treatment. Curing H.pylori is an amazing thing. Every LD patient should be tested for it first thing and treated. It makes a world of difference.

Pearl said...

I'm very glad you posted this story, LymeMD. My LLMD ordered a full GI analysis from Metametrix for me at the first appointment. When it came back, I was surprised how messed up my digestion was, and that my campylobacter and H.pylori levels were about 6-7 times "normal". After a Prevpac, my stomach is feeling much better. I still think I have some "Bell's Palsy of the gut", but that will get better as we progress with the Lyme treatment. Just before my diagnosis, I was hospitalized for 3 days with severe stomach, rib, and upper right quadrant abdominal pain. I told them I believed I had Lyme and 3 doctors dismissed it completely while ordering up 3 MRIs, a CT scan, and numerous blood tests. They did nothing to check out my gut and did not test me for Lyme. I'm so grateful my Lyme aware doctor knew to do a thorough check of my gut!